Question: Advice with axolotls eggs

[daniellog]

Hey guys, I really could do with your help. I have ordered some Axolotls Eggs (15 eggs) that where laid on the 11th of March and I will receive them on 16th. I have read the Axolotls - Rearing from Egg to Adult article and it has been a lot of help, but I want these eggs to have the best chance possible of being successful.

I have a 3 litre plastic container to put the eggs in when they arrive, I have been told to have the water around 2 inches deep and then when they hatch to lower the water level a bit so that the baby axolotls can reach the food better. I have been to the local pet store and bought some live Daphnia, however not all of what where in the bags are Daphnia I don’t think, I have attached pictures for you to see. Also the water they are in is a slightly pinkish red colour, why is this? When the axolotls do hatch how much food a day should I put in the container? I don’t want to overfeed them and kill them. They are stored in 3x200ml tubs for now.

I know I have to do a water change every day, but how much of the water do I have to change a day exactly? The person who I bought the eggs off of said to have a spare coca cola bottle full of water to refill the container with as it would be at room temperature too, which I have and can use.

I think that’s mainly all of the questions I have for now as this is my first time trying to rear axolotl eggs, and any help and advice you can give me would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[shoegal]

I am raising about 100 baby axies right now, so I can relate to how you are feeling. All of my knowledge about how to care for them came from Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander, so you are off to a good start.

In my opinion, you never have to worry about over-feeding your baby axies. I would be much more concerned about them not getting enough food and starving. It is important to have a constant supply of live food in their tank when they are newly hatched. They seem to be in a constant state of eating or at least attempting to eat. I prefer live daphnia, but some people hatch their own brine shrimp.

Having room temperature water on hand is a good suggestion, however be certain that it has been dechlorinated before you add it. Forgetting to dechlorinate is a very efficient method of killing off all your babies.

I did 75% water changes on a daily basis. Keep their water clean and always have food available, and you should be fairly successful. I estimate that I only lost about 20% of the babies during this process. They are now 2-3 inches long and ready to be shipped to their new homes.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I would be more than happy to help in any way... : )

 

[daniellog]

Thanks shoegal. The reason I asked about the over feeding is that I found a few posts on the forum of people that had over fed their axolotls and I didn't want to over feed mine.

Our tap water in Sheffield in the UK is well filtered and more than safe to drink, but I'm not too sure of the chlorine levels in our tap water. How would I go about dechlorinating the water?

Also after inspecting the food, the other creatures with the daphnia are mosquito larvae, would these be safe to eat for the baby axolotls? Also would yourself or anyone know why the water that they are in is slightly pinkish?

 

[Velaria]

Daniel, you need some dechlorinating drops. You should be able to find them very easily at your local aquarium/pet store. The brand I use is Aquasafe, but there are many good brands out there. Just follow the directions on the bottle, and you'll be fine. You should ABSOLUTELY dechlorinate your water, even if you don't think there's any chlorine in it. I hope there IS chlorine in it, because your city should be treating the septic system properly. If there isn't any chlorine in your local water supply, then I don't think I want to visit the UK!

Mosquito larvae should not be unsafe for consumption, as I once had some mosquito larvae in my tank (accidentally), and my axies gobbled them all up with no problems. Heheh, free food, right? However, my axies were at least 5-6 months old when that happened, so they were much larger than hatchlings. I cannot conceive of how a hatchling could possibly eat a mosquito larva, since the larva would be WAY too big for the baby axie's mouth. So, for that reason alone, you should try to remove the mosquito larvae from your daphnia culture.

I have no idea why your water is pinkish.

I've raised hatchlings before, but I just found my very first crop of eggs yesterday! They're developing well and looking good, and I'm prepared to feed them with baby brine shrimp once they hatch. When I raised my other hatchlings, I fed them solely on baby brine shrimp, so I don't have any experience with daphnia, but it definitely wouldn't hurt if you bought some brine shrimp eggs, as well. They're very easy to hatch, and after they hatch, I just shine a light on the bowl to make them cluster together, suck them up with a plastic pipette, then squirt them into a bowl of SALT-FREE dechlorinated tap water, shine the light again, suck them up with the pipette again, and then aquirt them into my baby axolotols' containers to be eaten. I like to squirt them into the bowl of salt-free water first becaose it cleanses them and washes the salt away. I don't want to squirt salt water into my axie's container. Like I said, very easy.

 

[daniellog]

Hi Velaria, Yes there is chlorine in the water, it’s just that I'm quite that stupid at times, and you should visit the UK, it’s not that bad...honest . I talked to a friend of mine who said I would need the exact same stuff you advised me to get (Aquasafe) so I have bought 250ml of it today. Would I just put a tiny drop of it in the water bottle I will use to refill the container with everyday, or just add it to the container after every refill?

I will try and fish the mosquito larvae out of the container which could be very hard to do, but nevertheless I will try. As for the brine shrimp eggs, it seems like quite a bit of work, plus I've read they are not as nutritious for the hatchlings as daphnia? I could be wrong. Would it be easier to just breed daphnia somehow? Then again would it be worth it if they grow quite fast and then I can just feed them blood worms?

 

[shoegal]

Dechlorinate the water BEFORE you add it to the baby axie tank.

One issue with having mosquito larvae mixed in with the daphnia is that sometimes the hatchlings attempt to eat something that is too large for them, and this can cause some issues. It is better to give them food that is more manageable- daphnia or baby brine shrimp. Just be sure to give the brine shrimp a very good rinse to remove tha salt before adding them to the tank.

 

[melfly]

As for the brine shrimp eggs, it seems like quite a bit of work, plus I've read they are not as nutritious for the hatchlings as daphnia? I could be wrong. Would it be easier to just breed daphnia somehow? Then again would it be worth it if they grow quite fast and then I can just feed them blood worms?

Hiya, i also live in sheffield!

Brand new hatched baby brine shrimp are the most nutritious food for your babies....but..you do need to hatch your own to get them at the right stage.

Daphnia i dont use till they ae a bit bigger.

Bloodworm your looking at 8-10 weeks before feeding live bloodworm, frozen you could feed a bit before.

Also the mosquito larvae wont harm your babies but will turn into a mosquito at some point so better to remove at some point.
My summer babies had some tiny mosqito larva from an outdoor tub when they were a few weeks old.

Mel

 

[daniellog]

Hey Mel, its a small world isn't it?
Ah ok baby brine ship would be a better choice, however how do I go about getting the eggs and hatching them? can I just buy them off ebay? I did notice the pet store sold "shrimp" which I'm guessing is baby brine shrimp as well as Daphina for 80p a bag so maybe its cheaper just to buy it from there?

I'm quite excited now as they eggs should arrive tomorrow, I've set everything up set for their arrivals. I don't know what I will do if all are successful as I only want to keep around two I suppose I'll sell them/give them away to friends and family.

 

[melfly]

The pet shop may sell brine shrimp but they wont be baby brine shrimp and will be far too big for the axies to eat.
I bought brine shrimp eggs from ebay and i use aquaruim salt, i hatch them in a 1 litre pop bottle with an air pump in.

Where abouts in Sheff i'm at parson cross.

Mel

 

[daniellog]

I'm a student at Hallam living on Norfolk Road, I go to a pet shop on the end of the moor next to the war hammer shop. My flat mate has a fully grown axolotl so that's what inspired me to buy the eggs

What do you mean by an air pump exactly? like a filter? The daphnia are tiny and they should be able to eat it anyways for now, but the baby brine shrimp seem like a good thing to look into if its not too hard to hatch them.

 

[melfly]

Is the pet shop called Middletons?

I think you'll find the daphnia will be too big, unless its really small baby daphnia.
When the baby axies hatch they are teeeeny.

Yeah just an air pump with a bit of tube attached.

Mel

 

[daniellog]

Yeah thats the one! I thought they would be small enough, that's the smallest food they did. My flat mate seems to think they are small enough and so did the guy at the pet store. They are absolutely tiny though and I read a lot on rearing them and everywhere said that daphnia was fine :S

 

[daniellog]

Actully I've just looked at some pictures on google, they must be baby daphina and there are some bigger daphnia too but not too many. They are tiny little white dots that keep jumping around in the water, then they are some bigger daphina swimming around that look like these http://www.acuari.com/ayuda/alimentacion/daphnia/imagenes/Daphnia.jpg

 

[melfly]

Do you realise how small babiy axies mouths are going to be?
Heres a pic of a baby or two and a 1p (yes a 1p!!) lol

If there are some tiny daphnia in there you should be ok. And it should only take a couple of weeks for them to be able to handle slightly bigger food.
Mel

 

[daniellog]

Ok just did a size comparison (I have too many 1p's) and yeah they must be baby daphnia definitely. I know they are small but these daphnia are tiny and I reckon they could eat them. How long from hatching does it take for them to eat exactly? Just incase, plus would they be able to handle microworms? Its just I can buy them off ebay if need be.

 

[daniellog]

I borrowed my flat mates nice camera to show you the daphnia, the tiny nots are the baby daphina and there are some odd brown dots that are the fully grown daphnia. I have also put a penny underneath the container, looks ok to me :S

 

[melfly]

They will eat within 24 hours.
Micro worms they will definately be able to eat but are not as nutritional as bbs (baby brine) or daphnia.

Try and get a mix of all three then if anything goes wrong you have a back up.
You'll beable to tell they are eating because they do little jumps (its so cute lol)

Did you speak to the guy who works at Middletons about axolotls.
A guy i spoke to there said he'd bought a book on them.

Mel

 

[melfly]

I borrowed my flat mates nice camera to show you the daphnia, the tiny nots are the baby daphina and there are some odd brown dots that are the fully grown daphnia. I have also put a penny underneath the container, looks ok to me :S

I think you might get them to eat them.....just.

 

[daniellog]

God you really scared me tonight, specially when they are arriving tomorrow! lol I did ask the guy there but he said he didn't know an awful lot but he said they would be fine. I'm guessing they use the same stuff to feed tropical baby fish. Anyhow its quite cheap there for the food (cheaper than ebay) so as long as they stock it I'll get the food from there (thats if they eat it).

I'll go ask about baby brine shrimp their too...just to be safe.

Thanks for your help mel!

 

[melfly]

Another bit of advice with babies is be careful of their temp creeping up.
Because of the small water volume the temp can get pretty high in there.
I lost a few last summer due to heat.

Also you may need to buy some more Daphnia before your axies hatch, i'm not sure how long daphnia will live without food.

When we get better weather you can grow your own daphnia in an outside tub. You can get it super small then. (this wont help the babies on the way to you but the next batch you get, as you will be addicted to them, trust me, I've bein raising babies non stop for a whole year now lol)

Mel